- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber (4 Oct 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571196160
- ISBN-13: 978-0571196166
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 584,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'A fascinating cultural quest to discover how such blanket - and in the end blind - moral prohibition has come to the fore in our relationship to narcotics... she balances accessibility with intellectual rigour... she weaves writers' experiences of amazing highs with the cold, hard science of how chemicals would have interacted with their synapses to get them tripping.' Tim Teeman, The Times 'It is something of a relief to turn to the poised clarity with which Plant anatomises our species' varied relationships with stuff that makes your head go funny.' Charles Shaar Murray, Independent 'A comprehensive account of how drugs have come to shape the modern world.' The Face
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Modern culture has found itself on drugs. Beyond their psychoactive effects, they have shaped some of the modern era's most fundamental philosophies and even helped expose the neurochemistry of the human brain. This examination of writing on drugs, including Coleridge on opium, Michaux on mescaline, Freud on cocaine and Burroughs on everything, is an exploration of the profound and pervasive influence of drugs on contemporary and historical culture. The author argues that drugs have been integral to modern politics, media and technology.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I do not intend to enter into long and drawn out words to express the benefit that reading this book has supplied. Being a research student I have been both stimulated and encouraged by what Plant has written that is without the normal pretentious blurb that often accompanies any writing that gives focus to drug issues. Plant travels with remarkable style, humour and engaging thought through the history of drug use showing that the very foundations of some of what society takes for granted has been deeply influenced by drug use. Plant demonstrates that the traditions of philosophy, politics, art, music and even social change have all had their fingers in the drugs pie. For instance Plant spends times locating the drug habits of Freud and goes further to chart both Hitler and Churchill as drug users. The CIA and their involvement in the distribution of LSD in the 50s and 60s are all revealing and compelling insights into the drug world. It has been a real pleasure to at last read work that looks to strip common ideas to the very basis of origin. If you have an interest in drug issues or indeed in a branch of history where all too often knowledge is hidden or repressed then this is a book to read. Great stuff.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Too repetitive and disorganised. But all in all, a worth read. The book can be divided into 2 parts: a literary part and a history part. The first part focuses on certain authors and philosophers. The second part starts explaining the brain (shouldn't this be in the very beginning?) and continues to explain the history of the drug trade (specially in the US).
I am interested in the subject and that's why I finished the book but I almost gave up reading a few times... Sadie Plant, on the other hand, provides some interesting facts.
I am interested in the subject and that's why I finished the book but I almost gave up reading a few times... Sadie Plant, on the other hand, provides some interesting facts.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sadie Plant approaches the subject of drugs in a way that is never overtly opinionated or even argumentative. It is based purely on the assimilation and deconstruction of an astonishing amount of cultural texts, that include some of the most famous pieces of the last century. Focus on work done by De Quincey, Freud and Michaux (amongst many others) is paralleled with an in depth look at their lifestyles, that supported and even depended upon what we now consider and term, class A drugs. Also considered in the book are many of societys most profound developments and their link with drugs. A link which gives drugs and in turn the book a magical appeal that mysteriously grows as Plant releases the secrets that have surrounded drugs for many many years. She reveals the nature in which drugs have shaped and written many of the rules that we encounter in our lives. A consideration of poetry, and fiction reveal the creative effects of drugs, leading to intriguing revelations on their effects on the modern world, its economics, history, politics, media, technology, philosophy and neurochemistry. A very exciting and fulfilling insight behind modern day culture. A read that will push you to find out more for yourself. A vital companion for modern day consumption.
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